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More scans, and getting on with it.
This post has been sitting in my drafts for weeks. There’s been a lot going on, but not much of it has been running. There has been movement, and I’m on the upswing in terms of energy and endurance. I’m currently ‘on hiatus’ between chemo — my last infusion was on 13 August — and the beginning of radiotherapy, which should start in late September. Still, a treatment hiatus doesn’t mean I’m immune from appointments and scans.
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Learning to appreciate the grind
Similar to any good training plan, my chemo treatment plan has weeks that offload the strain on my body, intended to allow for healing and recovery, and to minimize the cumulative toxic effects of the drug regimen. Mostly that has been working well for me. Still, just like when you are two thirds through a build, where I find myself now is understanding the remaining weeks of treatment will be a grind. We all go through it.
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Order of operations
One of the most frequent questions I get asked is about my treatment plan, and why chemo is happening before radiation instead of the other way around. Until it was posed to me, I hadn’t thought to even ask about the order. It turns out, practical, evidence-based reasons apply, though it still surprises me how new some of the treatment recommendations are. And the order of operations really are tailored to individual circumstance.
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Marking time … and racing again.
This week has been one of milestones and moving forward. It’s been six months since I was diagnosed, four months since surgery, and with Tuesday’s infusion behind me, I’m half way through the chemotherapy portion of my treatment plan. When my mind goes to ‘when will all this be done?’ it’s a useful frame to remember everything that has happened already. In training terms, I’ve been putting in the work. And with that work, comes a reward…
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T words: Triggers and trauma
As much as my experience with chemotherapy is better than I imagined it might be, this journey comes with its ups and downs that can be exhausting in their own right. It’s surprising what can upset your equilibrium.
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Fueling for the long run
I asked my medical oncologist today if this first cycle of chemotherapy could be looked at as a baseline — would it be repeatable over the next five rounds or should I expect something different each time? I was delighted when she said this should be the pattern and my experience should be similar each cycle. With the exception of two days of bone pain, and some general tiredness, I haven’t been bothered by a lot of…
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Finding a (new) baseline
When I signed up for my first half-marathon years ago, the idea of creating a training plan seemed daunting. But slowly, the plan did come together, helped by advice from my BFF, and other runners who had half-marathons and longer distances under their belt. Now, the plan for the next 18 weeks is starting to take shape.
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Pre-race jitters: Chemo starts this week
I did a thing this last week — posting on my Facebook page about my diagnosis and what comes next with treatment. Though I’m not the biggest Facebook user these days, it seemed the best way to let my really wide circle of friends and colleagues know about what was going on in my life.
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Everything changes
This post started last weekend, celebrating my first run on the mountain — a glorious way to spend Easter Sunday. After testing my legs on the treadmill at the gym, I was ready — though nervous — to see what it might feel like to run on the trails for the first time since surgery. But what was an almost complete draft has been rewritten, because the view from here is changing.
Welcome
I’m a 60+ masters runner documenting my journey with endometrial cancer and now Cowden Syndrome.
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Latest posts
- Is this the other shoe?
- So this is what “normal” looks like.
- Piecing together survivorship
- Genetics … the missing puzzle piece?
- On anniversaries, monitoring, and more waiting …
Running from hysteria 